May day was a holiday that I wasn’t too aware of. I never heard of it, and never heard anyone speak about it. What I didn’t know was that May 1st was a day to honor the achievement of workers and labor. Personally I believe that this holiday is very significant to the hard work that individuals do everyday of their lives, but for something that seems to important…I don’t understand why such a small amount of people ever discuss it or are even educated on this day. It makes it seem as if this isn’t important, that the work of different individuals are taken for granted. I think this shows the appreciation level of work that many Americans do everyday, which then turns to the appreciation of the many of the things workers distribute to us such as trains, buses, food stores…all the work that goes into making or building these specific things are taken for granted but in a sense still seen as very important because its something that millions of Americans cannot go a day without using. This shows Americans appreciation for things. It is said that may 1st probably has more holidays than any other day of the year. “It's a neopagan festival, a saint's feast day, and a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday.” (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mayday.html).
What surprised me when researching may day was to find that it is sometimes many protest that take place in the united states. In 2006 protests happened in the united states that focused on the immigration reform. Strikes, rallies, and boycotts happened where the main focus of it was supporting the rights of workers and citizens of the United States, and protesting a bill that would send illegal immigrants back to their home countries. This seemed interesting that people would protest a bill that meant deporting immigrants, being that immigration is said to be one of the main issues stopping citizens born in the united states from getting jobs.
The forgetting of the holiday that focuses on the struggle and hard work that American do shows that hard work and labor doesn’t seem to matter to most people. Money matters more. The person that works long and hard hours but isn’t in the best financial situation probably aren’t the ones appreciated or looked as the hard workers, but the person making thousands and millions are the ones looked at as if they worked hard to get where they are at.
